My dd nearly died waiting for an emergency ambulance... the nhs is broken!

[finallyahappygirl]

Last Saturday my dd 8 woke up extremely poorly. She had a temperature of 39c and was complaining of a sore throat, I rang nhs 111 at 7:30am and was told I would be called by a nurse and I should not take her to a walk in centre or A&E due to the risk of her being infected with covid-19. Fast forward 12 hours my dd tried to get out of bed but collapses straight on the floor, she could not bear bright lights she couldn't not move her neck and everytime she spoke or cried she was screaming in total agony with the pain in her head. Her temperature had risen to 41c and she began losing consciousness.... I rang 999 and was advised that it sounded like meningitis and I was to strip her clothes off and try and cool her down. 5 minutes later I was rang back by a first responder who talked me through what to do and how to keep her safe, he then told me she was top priority and they were coming blues and twos but.... there were no available ambulances and he didn't know when one would become available. I totally lost it at this point sobbing down the phone that my baby is dying I don't know how to save her. He apologised profusely but said she is top priority and they will be with us when they can.... 5 minutes later she lost consciousness completely and we couldn't wake her at all even nipping her ear she didn't come round. I frantically dialed 999 only to be told very rudely there was still no ambulances and what were they meant to do. I said I would take her in my own car and they said that was too dangerous due to the state I was in and the likely medical treatment she needed immediately. 1hour and 20 minutes later the ambulance turned up my daughter still unconscious my eldest dd in hysterics thinking her baby sister had died. My partner in complete shock!!! My daughter has meningitis and thankfully is now on the mend but the outcome could have been so different it does bear thinking about really.
I totally appreciate we're in a pandemic but surely the nhs shouldn't be this broken where children's lives are being put at risk!!! Wtf has happened to this countries priorities?? Why have the government let things get to this point??

OP was told by experts not to drive her dd. In a state of panic and distress, she obeyed. It's not like her dd had a broken leg; many people wouldn't know what to do when specialist help is urgently needed other than call for it.

After such an awful experience and feeling understandably angry and let down, should she really have to endure being reprimanded on mumsnet? Sure, ask the question, but keep your judgement. I trust all those criticising know for certain they would be true heroes in an emergency whilst their world is crumbling before them, but a little compassion for mere humans please.

This is all down to generation snowflake who call an ambulance at the drop of a hat and believe they have a right to immediate medical attention. So those who really do need it, have to go without.

What utter utter bullshit. When people who don’t need an ambulance call, they don’t get an ambulance. That doesn’t account for the lack of ambulances. This is entirely down to funding cuts and the ambulance service have been saying for years that ever do not have the staff or vehicles to meet actual need.

I’m so sorry OP. I know how scary it is when your child is so ill and shame on the people saying you did the wrong thing.

Panic very rarely makes you sit and do nothing
Have you ever experienced panic?
I have a few times with my own dc and with 2 dn's, also a stranger too and I've not reacted the same each time. Twice I literally felt disabled and couldn't think or speak straight. Other times I've felt my adrenaline take over and I've cracked on with what needed doing like a robot, without thinking.
No 2 people are the same nor, in my case, no 2 reactions to events.
OP I'm glad your dd is doing well, it must have been so scary and awful. My youngest sister had meningitis as an 18 month old and I vividly remember it.

In addition to many of the previous comments, I think this really highlights the value of taking regular measurements, especially in the early stages of an infection. Don't worry about waking the child, they'll fall asleep again soon enough.

*When we were in A&E, a drunk man who had tried to cut his wrists (but actually hadn’t- he’d scratched them a bit) came in with two ambulance crews and a police van. He was shouting and swearing whilst my mum was dying.
**
*I'm sorry your mum died

If I ever saw him again, I’d punch his fucking lights out.

Is this because you feel his problems are not valid? Did he get seen before your mum? So you think people like him shouldn't be taken to hospital? He would not have been taken to A&E if it was not justified. He may have just been saved from an attempt on his own life.

Sorry OP, didn't mean to politicise your thread and am truly sorry for what you and your DD went / are going through . Just so frustrating that people can't see or won't admit to the life and death outcomes for others of their political choices.

@JaneEyre1 I'm a nurse on the frontline and I was at first completely aghast at the level of abuse and downright unnecessary use of NHS services that goes on. Now I'm used to it. Disgusted by it, yet completely resigned to it.

Like you, I also have no idea how the fuck to deal with it.

Panic very rarely makes you sit and do nothing

It's pretty much exactly what I do. I'm autistic and sometimes I just don't know what to do, so I just sit down. Maybe not in extreme circumstances with my D.C. but if I had been told by 111 to wait then I would have waited.

Thais saying ‘It’s nothing to do with the government’ have you been living in a cave for the past 10 years?

The NHS can’t even cope with a “normal” winter, never mind a pandemic. We are fucked because this govt have deliberately cut the NHS to its bones. People will die because of those decisions.

Sadly the NHS is that broken , I hope she makes a full recovery .

OP you did exactly the right thing and it is completely shocking that the government has allowed the NHS to be reduced to this. It must have been terrifying and I for one, would have done exactly the same thing. I hope everything is ok now.

NHS gets abused, yes most of the time by vulnerable people because other services have been slashed. lonely folk, drug addicts, drunk people but there is no funding in MH - thanks government

NHS has had all its funding cut, doctors, nurses being reduced, no money invested in well need equipment - thanks government

Privatising elements of our NHS, outsourcing ambulance services to private companies so it becomes a profit incentive rather than a quality of service incentive.

OP sadly I think even after this disaster and the way it has been handled, a great deal will bit really change for the better.

Fucking hell, awful. :(. How terrifying for u. My daughter had suspected mennigentus at a time before covid 19 and was seen straight away. How different times are. I think for anyone else just go straight to a and e now, if u are there then they have to do something surely?!

So sorry that happened to your dd, what a shock for you all, wishing her well

But people will still bite Tory I bet 😰

Vote Tory

I'm sorry your DD has been so ill and that you had to wait so long for an ambulance. I'm also sorry you've had criticism on this thread for following medical advice

"Wtf has happened to this countries priorities?? Why have the government let things get to this point??"
It's because people vote Tory. Out of interest, who did you vote for in the last few elections?

It has nothing to do with the government

Like fuck it hasn't.

It is EVERYTHING to do with the government.

OP, I'm so sorry you had such a horrifying experience and I hope that your daughter continues to make a good recovery.

Sorry I don't know how to tag specific people... I voted labour always have done even though this time I cringed voting for Jeremy Corbin I just couldn't bring myself to vote for the tories... I'll probably get slated for this too now!

This is my worst nightmare. I hope you and your family are okay OP

I voted labour always have done even though this time I cringed voting for Jeremy Corbin I just couldn't bring myself to vote for the tories... I'll probably get slated for this too now!

Not from me you wouldn't, the lack of a viable opposition did not help matters.

Glad shes on the mend. Maybe the police, fire service and the military should be put on standby to help the ambulance service.

I hope your DD makes a good recovery.

Some ambulance services are better than others pre-corona but corona has tipped everywhere over the edge.

Even before corona I would be asking my really poorly patients' families 'Can you get them in a car' as I knew ambulance waits would be so long. I work in another region now so goodness knows what it is like there now. Yes, the paramedics can start treatment straight away but not if they don't turn up for 6 hours when you could have got the patient there in 20 minutes - but in a crisis you don't think like that, and some patients you just can't move by yourself.

She's in the right place now and I hope you, her and all your family are doing OK.

It's not broken. It's under extreme pressure.

I doubt you would have had any better luck getting an ambulance in Italy right now

God I’m so sorry you had to go through that OP. Your poor little girl hope she makes a speedy recovery

What has happened that people are so unkind. All these comments

Well the OP and title is a touch dramatic a week after the fact and has been posted in the Coronavirus topic in these times of heightened tension despite the child having had meningitis, so maybe a touch of scepticism is only natural. It's created a good old froth though, so mission accomplished all good.